Terry McAuliffe on Energy & Oil

Democratic nominee for Governor; previously DNC Chair

Renewables an economic development opportunity

We will make Virginia more energy independent and stimulate economic growth by expanding our use of renewable energy. Recently, we met with the leaders from Microsoft, Google and Amazon, and they made it clear that they will only do business and create
jobs in states that can provide renewable energy to power their operations. Renewables also offer an opportunity for our manufacturing sector, so that every single solar panel or wind turbine we install has "Made in Virginia" stamped right on it.

Source: 2016 State of the State speech to Virginia legislature
, Jan 13, 2016

Diversify our fuel mix with zero-carbon emitting sources

The energy sector in Virginia holds tremendous potential for economic growth and development, but this potential will be unfulfilled if we are complacent.
This session we will advocate for legislation to increase the diversity of our fuel mix through increased utilization of zero-carbon emitting sources such as solar, wind, and nuclear.
These growing technologies will not only help Virginia create new jobs, they will also reduce our emissions as we work to mitigate the impacts of global warming.

We will work to increase renewable development through public-private partnerships by
creating the Virginia Solar Development Authority. And we will introduce legislation to create an energy economic development fund to provide Virginia with yet another tool to attract new, large job creating businesses and help existing businesses grow.

Co-founded GreenTech electric car company, in Mississippi

Cuccinelli has been especially critical of GreenTech, the electric car company that McAuliffe co-founded, because it considered placing a factory in Southside Virginia but chose to put it in Mississippi instead after getting a generous incentive
package from that state's government.

McAuliffe said that he "would love to have put a plant in Virginia" but that companies have a "fiduciary" duty to investors.

"Okay, you picked Mississippi, so run for governor of Mississippi," Cuccinelli said.

2012: Started GreenTech electric car company & soon resigned

Terry McAuliffe appeared with his good friend Bill Clinton at the ribbon-cutting for Mr. McAuliffe's electric car company in July 2012, the campaign-style event, complete with "Born in the U.S.A." blaring.

McAuliffe resigned as GreenTech's chairman
last year but publicly acknowledged it only this month. Documents have surfaced questioning his explanation for why he located the plant in Mississippi, not Virginia, including memos from Virginia officials expressing "grave doubts" about his business
model and suggesting its financing was a "visa-for-sale scheme" for Chinese investors.

McAuliffe said the struggles of GreenTech--which once promised 1,500 jobs but today employs only 78 at its plant--are typical of any start-up in a tough
economy. "How many people start electric car companies?" he said in an interview. "How many do it in a recession?"

Ken Cuccinelli has seized on the GreenTech saga in an attempt to attack McAuliffe's chief asset as a candidate, his business acumen.

Capture wind offshore: for jobs & green energy

The US has created 2,675,545 clean energy jobs. Unfortunately, Virginia only has 2.5% of those jobs, or 66,772. This is unacceptable, and I know we can do better. Our neighbors to the south and west are already getting ahead and we need to catch up and
then take the lead.

There is a lot we can do. We've got over 1,000 megawatts of wind power we could be capturing onshore. Building this capacity would result in $2.7 million in new payments to landowners, $9.1 million in new property tax revenues, over
1,500 new construction jobs and over 200 new long-term jobs.

We also know we can create thousands more jobs by encouraging energy efficiency and supporting people in making their homes and businesses more efficient.
These kinds of renovations employ construction workers and keep building supplies moving through the economy, while saving homeowners and businesses money every month on their utility bills.

Supports tradable emissions permits for greenhouse gases.

McAuliffe adopted the manifesto, "A New Agenda for the New Decade":

Modernize Environmental Policies National environmental policies, mostly developed in the 1970s, have been remarkably successful in improving the quality of our air and water. But we face a new set of environmental challenges for which the old strategy of centralized, command-and-control regulation is no longer effective.

The old regime of prohibitions and fines levied on polluters is not well equipped to tackle problems such as climate change, contamination of water from such sources as farm and suburban runoff, loss of open lands, and sprawl. Without relaxing our determination to maintain and enforce mandatory national standards for environmental quality, it is time to create more effective, efficient, and flexible ways of achieving those standards.

For example, a system of tradable emissions permits would give factories, power plants, and other sources of air pollution and greenhouse gases a powerful incentive not only to meet but to exceed environmental standards. Decisions about solving local environmental problems should be shifted from Washington to communities, without weakening national standards. Finally, to empower citizens and communities to make sound decisions, government should invest in improving the quality and availability of information about environmental conditions.

Goals for 2010

Create a domestic emissions trading system to reduce greenhouse gases by 10 percent.

Promote innovative agreements for community and regional partnerships to achieve national environmental goals and standards through local strategies.